Under President Barack Obama’s watch, over 2.5 million immigrants were deported, in a not-very-well-publicized ramping up of the expulsion of undocumented immigrants, and Americans stayed mostly quiet. It was more than any other president in history, and we stayed quiet.
Under President Donald Trump, that number may be even higher. It’s time to stop being quiet.
Deportation is a cruel, unhelpful and often unintentionally life-threatening response to undocumented immigration. Children are frequently separated from their parents and left to care for themselves or placed under state care, now a burden for the government to watch because their parents have been sent to another country. The threat of deportation can have harmful physical and psychological effects on our undocumented neighbors. It can ruin the economy, ruin entire neighborhoods, leave millions in danger.
Trump plans to deport at least 11.3 million undocumented immigrants, smashing Obama’s record by a longshot. Rumors are swirling that ICE officers have drastically ramped up their search methods, and are arresting and detaining people seemingly without reason or warrant as long as they believe the person is undocumented. Make a bet on Netbet.org.
For Americans wondering when is the time to reach out and start protecting undocumented immigrants in the United States, now is the time. Communities must get together to discuss how to protect their neighbors. They must discuss how to ensure children are still going to school without fear of deportation, families can go about their days without fearing being stopped and detained by a police officer, immigrants know their rights and rules regarding how to interact with ICE officers, including to not let them come inside the house.
The ACLU has begun releasing infographics in multiple languages to aid immigrants and give them vital information about talking to the ICE.
So far, raids have been reported in Texas, Arizona, California, New York, Illinois, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia. There doesn’t appear to be a cohesive plan of attack for immigrants, which means communities across the country need to prepare to protect their neighbors.
There’s evidence that Americans are already aware that they need to take more actions against deportation. In Arizona, a mother named Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, who’d lived in the county for over 20 years was being deported when protesters blocked the ICE car transporting her from moving, shouting that she should be released and allowed to return to her teenage, documented children. One protester locked himself to the van in an attempt to stop them. It was ultimately unsuccessful, and on Thursday her children, who were born and raised as Americans, left the United States to be with her in Mexico.
Although the protest didn’t protect her, the display was an optimistic outcome of what could be for Americans in the era of Trump. Like in Arizona, we must step up to defend our undocumented neighbors. We must protest their deportation, offer them sanctuary and shelter, refuse to accommodate the ICE and refuse to allow Trump to go through with his plans. It’s time to fight back against mass deportation.